Introducing the Empathy Suit Experience

In this issue of Healthcare Matters, we are pleased to feature Alive Activities as our Health, Wellbeing and Social Care Company of the Month.

Alive’s latest initiative, The Empathy Suit Experience, offers participants the opportunity to understand life with dementia and agerelated physical impairments. The suit is made up of 13 components which work to inhibit mobility, motor skills, vision and hearing – giving the wearer a unique sense of how it may feel to be an older person living with dementia – literally ‘putting them in the shoes,’ of the people they support.

Alive has collaborated with care homes, charities, and various organisations and individuals to provide a firsthand understanding of the challenges faced by those living with dementia. Most recently, with the Alzheimer’s Society they recorded a video featuring three England male football players, which has been shared across their platforms, reaching hundreds of thousands of people.

Isobel Jones, Alive CEO remarked, “The dementia empathy suit truly helps people gain a genuine experience of dementia and understand how daily activities can be impacted. It was eye-opening to watch the England team members struggle with everyday tasks. They began to grasp the isolation and frustration that people living with dementia might feel, and they expressed a commitment to being more patient and understanding.”

As a registered charity, Alive Activities has embraced a vision and mission to improve the lives of older people. Tim Lloyd-Yeates embarked on a journey in 2009 when he founded Alive off the back of his own personal experience of visiting a relative in care. Tim unfortunately passed away in 2015, but his legacy lives on through Alive that still runs on the same passion, dedication, commitment and love that Tim once poured into the charity 14 years ago.

“Alive is a charity that strives to engage older people living in care, train carers, connect care homes to their wider community, and work with older people still living at home to combat social isolation. Alive stand up for the rights of older people and try to give a voice to those who may otherwise not be heard. We are currently increasing our support in the community; we have Meeting Centres across Bristol and the wider area, designed for people living with dementia and their carers to come and take part in person-centred activity, obtain support and advice in day-to-day tasks, and give their carer the support network that they so often do not receive. We also run two allotments in Bristol, supporting people living with dementia and their carers with opportunities to benefit from regular horticultural therapy,” said Isobel.

Since the pandemic, Alive has expanded its reach, supporting more older people than ever before through their range of services. Its community support within the BNSSG area has grown, and they now run Meeting Centres, dementia-friendly allotments, hospital activity programs, and technology groups. With the increasing number of people living with dementia, it is crucial for Alive to continue providing support and amplifying the voices of those affected by this condition.

For more information or to book training, please contact Alive below:T 0117 377 4756info@aliveactivities.orgwww.aliveactivities.org